Amherst News-Times, 1997-01-01

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Wednesday, January 1, 1997
Amherst, Ohio
Sophia wouldn't trade her
lifestyle in for another one
Home care plan helps those in need be less needy
by Bill Rom
If you ask Sophie Trophia of
Amherst the difference between
spending time recuperating in a
hospital versus taking advantage
of a home health care program
now being offered through Amherst Hospital, you better plan
on staying a while.
Trophia, 81, is currently taking advantage of the hospital's
home care program for the second time, after suffering a broken wrist the day before Thanksgiving. This was just after she
had completed the nine-week
home care health program for a
stroke she had suffered at the
beginning of October.
"1 kid them (the home care
nurse and the personal care assistant) that I .just broke my
wrist so that I could be with
them again," Trophia said, adding that she would never consider a nursing home an option.
She has lived in Amherst for
more than 40 years, has been
driving for 65 years (without an
accident) and has such a strong
sense of independence that moving out of her home would not
be something she could bear.
This is the home where she
moved from Lorain 40 years ago
in order to give her children a
better life. This is the home
where she shared the joys and
sorrows of life with her husband, who died seven years ago.
It was while living in this home
that she would make all of the
unique crafts and Christinas ornaments that she is so proud of,
and it is in this home that she
still receives phone calls all day
long from friends and family
who enjoy sharing their Uvea
with her.
Trophia comes from an extended family of 12 children,
four who are still alive and ha?
regular contact She has four
children, 11 grandchildren and
20 great-grandchildren who are
scattered throughout the
country.
In addition to the family vis-
CONTINUED on page 2
Sophie Trophia is flanked by her horn* cam team of Sim Garcia and Cindy Lothridga.
Got an extra bedroom? Add a temporary teen
by BUI Rom
Sharing cultures, histories and
ideas are just some of the benefits a
family can hope to gain from opening their home to a foreign exchange student, and there are seven
families in Amherst who are involved in the program this year.
The students are all enrolled at
Marion L. Steele High School — six
are affiliated with the International
Education Forum and one who is
being sponsored by the Rotary Club.
According to Gerri Rice, the Amherst coordinator for IEF, this year
is working out especially well.
"Theoretically, I'm supposed to
me?t with the students and families
once a month to make sure things
are running smoothly and to help
iron out any problems, but this year
everything is going so great that
I've just been touching bases by
phone or seeing the kids at school."
One of those great experien—s is
occurring at the home of Laura and
Tony Moreno, who are finding that
their relationship with an exchange
student is more than they had ever
hoped for.
Laura is a nuclear medicine technologist and Tony is an air traffic
controller. Somehov they are managing to raise a family of four children in addition to hosting Katharina,
a 16-year-old from Germany, who is
staying with them during a portion
of the school year.
Katharina is the second exchange
student that the Morenos have
hosted — which is surprising because they admit their first experience was not so gratifying.
Laura says she was interested in
having an exchange student for
many years, but did not really know
how to go about the process of applying for one.
After her aunt, Betty Velazquez,
to arrive from Germany, he was informed by the Amherst school district that it only accepted exchange
students for either five- or ten-
month-stints, so Tony reluctantly
accepted her for the five-month
period.
Things changed, however, shortly
after she arrived, and it was virtually
love at first sight for both Katharina
and the Morenos. After a week of
shyness and reservation on her part,
Katharina quickly adapted to the
family routu-e.
She got interested in becoming an
exchange student after hearing a lot
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k. "I wanted to experience living in
and to learn the huv
you're in Germany, they tell yon that yon an do
so many things in America,'* she
The Moreno extended family during a moment of relaxation. From Ml to
right: Anthony. Laura, Katharina, Tony, DenleL Victor (Tony's visaing
brother) and Jennifer. Jessica, 16, was working and la not pictured.
became an area coordinator for IEF,
Laura developed more interest and
she and Tony made arrangements to
be hosts for Yuka, a 16-year-old girl
from Japan, about two years ago.
Tony did not share the same en
thusiasm for the idea, after be found
out Yuka spoke virtually no English. Communication was extremely
difficult on all sides. He says Yuka
picked up a lot of the language
while she was here, but he feds it
was a frustrating experience for her
as well.
After that, Tony said to Lata*
"that's it, never again," but after a
year's break, Laura broached the
subject matter once again.
Tony gave into the pressure and
decided to give it another try — but
only for three months. "I figured I
could put up with anything for three
months," he said.
But the day before Katharina was
She arrived in Amherst on Aug.
22 and both she and the Morenos
have had such a great time that Ihey
have arranged for Katharina to stay
on an extra three months. "We
wanted her to stay the full 10
months, but it was too hue to arrange it with the school," Tony said.
In the late fall. Katharina went on
a trip to California sponsored by Explore America, an organization
formed to help exchange students
see other parts of the country during
their visits, and met with 130 other
foreign exchange students living
throughout the county.
She found that some of their experiences were not as enjoyable as
her own. "Many did not have good
luck with their boat tfrntu— and
were planning on going home," ate
said, adding that the host families
were not treating them like their
CONTINUED on page •
n I
Burcl plans exchange down under
Brianne Burcl and her mother, Laurene Pasztor.
One good way for area students to get a taste of what it is
like to be a foreign exchange
student without having to commit to being away from home
for a full year is through the
People-to-Peopie Student Ambassador Program.
Brianne Burcl is a senior at
Marion L. Steele High School
who is working to become a student ambassador for the program that will be sending a dele
gation from Ohio to Australia
this summer.
Student delegations from around the country are paired up
with other delegations to visit
countries throughout the world
in the program that was founded
by President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a way to allow students in this country to meet
with their peers in other nations
and share ideas, culture and
histories.
The student ambassadors
must be nominated by a former
student representative in order to
be eligible for the program, and
Burcl believes she was nominated by one of last year's representatives from Steele, although she has no idea who that
person was.
The students are nominated
based on the perception that they
will be able to make a good impression to the kids in the other
countries — and should be
thoughtful, considerate and mature for their age.
Burcl is very excited about
the prospect of visiting another
country and was strongly en-
courged to accept the invitation
by her mother, Laurene Pasztor,
who had the opportunity to
travel as a youth and experience
an international political conference, where she met kids from
all over the world.
She feels it gave her a more
well-rounded view of the world,
CONTMUED on page •
Dance instructor looks for student champions
by BW
A dance instructor in Hidden Valley is hoping that his future students
will be able to adorn their tuxes and
gowns with gold medals at the 2000
Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
Scott Gaul has been dancing for
close to 40 years, and says there is a
strong probability that ballroom
dance win finally get its proper due
since it has become a recognized
sport at the next summer games.
Dance sport, as it is known in this
country, is an energetic form of ballroom dance and is as strenuous for
its participants as any aerobic
exercise.
There are already national and international competitions for the
event and Gaul says the dance that
he leaches can be divided into two
categories: smooth and Latin.
The smooth version is more of
the traditional and graceful style that
many grew up watching in old
vies; the Latin style is hot tad fast
Gaul says mat American dancers
start out at a disadvani
compared to the rest of
because may are taught wait is
known as "Aaasrksn dance,'
in otter countries learn.
The American dance style was
created by Arthur Murray Studios as
a way to get more people tntoresttd
in dancing, and the stops and i
meats are simplified so that people
can learn them more quickly.
The problem is that everyone
else m the world starts out with me
interasiionatdsncostyfeaadduyydo
not have to mate the treaaitica ate
we do ten," Gaul said, la other
countries, ballroom dance is part of
the school cufriculusa.
Dance wrnpetitioas Or regularly
on FBS stations and it is because of
its increasing pjpularity ]hat the
push is on for dance sport to be an
officially sanctioned Olympic event
Gaul got his start in dtace to the
late 1930s, when he was pressured
into taking lessons by his saner.
They were both Ugh school fftrf—f
andateaadsigaedvtotstoeclass
at aa Arthur Money dance stadto ia
Lorain. She ted ao partner to practice with, so Gaul was elected to the
It did not tste Gaol
to find
he
By the time he was a
at Michigan Stoto, Gaul
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<bo ia d» area and he
When he
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